Thomas M. Truskett & Venkat Ganesan Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712. Abstract We introduce a mean-field model for the potential energy landscape of a thin fluid film confined between parallel substrates. The model predicts how the number of accessible basins on the energy landscape and, consequently,...

A theoretical framework is introduced for studying the thermodynamics and phase behavior of a ‘‘waterlike’’ fluid film confined between hydrophobic plane surfaces. To describe the hydrogen-bonding interactions in the fluid film, an earlier analytical theory for uniform associating fluids is generalized. Two levels of approximation are presented. In the first, the reference fluid is assumed to b...

Although classical density functional theory provides reliable predictions for the static properties of simple equilibrium fluids under confinement, a theory of comparative accuracy for the transport coefficients has yet to emerge. Nonetheless, there is evidence that knowledge of how confinement modifies static behavior can aid in forecasting dynamics. Specifically, recent molecular simulation ...

The translational diffusion of a fluorescent dye embedded at a dilute concentration in a confined fluid was compared at rest and during shear. The fluid, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS), was confined between step-free muscovite mica to thickness 3-4 layers. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy showed that the time scales of intensity-intensity autocorrelation functions were essentially th...